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November 28 Daily Devotional

An Evil Report

Frans Bakker

And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched. —Numbers 13:32

Bible Reading

Numbers 13:30–33

Devotional

“It cannot be done. It is impossible.” It was with this message that ten of the twelve spies returned to the camp of Israel. “Those men in the land that we have to conquer are children of Anak. They are greater and stronger then we are.” That was certainly true. According to man’s reasoning, defeating the Canaanites was impossible for Israel. But at the heart of the matter this evil report was not a disapproval of the land, but it was an evil report against the Lord. The spies spoke as if God was not able to overcome these giants in the land.

The report of the ten spies was the utterance of unbelief. Oh, how terrible unbelief is! Man’s unbelief slaps the almighty and faithful God in the face. Unbelief is a seed that germinates quickly. The people immediately believed these ten men rather than Joshua and Caleb.

In a certain sense, these ten men spoke the truth. This truth that they uttered was disappointing to the people of Israel, for after all, they sincerely desired to enter the Promised Land. These men appeared to be orthodox in their speech, and yet they were false prophets, for these men were not able to enter in to the Promised Land and they hindered the children of Israel from entering the place of rest as well.

The people wept when they heard the rumors of the ten spies. They had seen the grapes of Eshcol, but they would never eat the fruit of that land. Although they wept many tears, they were tears of unbelief. It is possible for man to weep in agreement with the truth, but not shed godly tears. What does God’s Word tell us about people with such tears? God’s Word says: “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief ” (Heb. 3:19). God calls these weeping people nothing more than a murmuring people. Their weeping was filled with enmity against God.

Of course, with man it was impossible to conquer the land. And he who has never faced impossibilities has never believed. Joshua and Caleb had also seen these giants. They also had proclaimed man’s inability to conquer the land. But they also knew that a divine miracle would defeat the enemy. Joshua and Caleb looked beyond the giants to their almighty God.

Unbelief always looks too low. It thinks too highly of giants and too little of God. Oh, how unbelief leads to shame! It is a great sin to live as if there is no God. That is especially the case now for spiritual Israel, the people who have experienced the miracles of God. Is their God now dead? Did they ever have to complain about God? No, it is the other way around. The Lord has to complain about them. He says, “And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds” (Hos. 7:14).

Can we believe in our own strength? That can never be, because it is a gift of God. And that is why man does not benefit from preaching that only says, “You must believe.” When we learn to know ourselves and our unbelief we become miserable. But our unbelief must become our guilt. That is what we can learn from this event. If only the Israelites had wept and complained sincerely because they had made themselves unworthy of entering the land of promise. Then they would have sorrowed after God and would have fully accepted the words of Joshua and Caleb who brought forth a good report for an evil people.

What can God do with a people filled with unbelief? Listen, dear reader: “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief ” (Matt. 13:58). Whenever an evil report is brought against the Lord, how then can God be of any benefit to such a person? Lord, help Thou mine unbelief!

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.

 

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